‘Philomena's Law' tabled to help survivors of mother-and-baby homes
A proposed law to help thousands of mother-and-baby-homes survivors accept compensation without losing access to benefits has been tabled in the UK Parliament.
Labour MP Liam Conlon moved 'Philomena's Law', named after survivor and campaigner Philomena Lee, as he warned that many survivors living in Britain have been deterred from making an application to the compensation scheme operated by the Irish government.
Mr Conlon said current rules mean any money accepted through the scheme would be considered as savings and could see the survivor 'lose means-tested benefits and financial support for social care'.
He added that ministers in Westminster could help up to 13,000 women by amending UK law to remove the risk, in line with similar changes made to help victims of the 7/7 London bombings and payments made under the Windrush compensation scheme.
Family members of Ms Lee watched in the House of Commons as Mr Conlon presented the Bill on Wednesday.
Oscar-winner Dame Judi Dench portrayed Ms Lee in the 2013 film Philomena, which documented her 50-year search for her forcibly adopted son, Anthony.
Mr Conlon's Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme (Report) Bill would require the UK Government to examine the potential merits of making the change.
The MP for Beckenham and Penge told the Commons: 'Philomena is one of tens of thousands of women and their infant children who spent time in mother-and-baby homes across Ireland for the perceived sin of becoming pregnant outside of marriage.
'The women were regularly used as unpaid labour and infant mortality was alarmingly high. They experienced harsh conditions, mistreatment and abuse, both physical and psychological.
'In certain homes, women were routinely separated from their children, with some being adopted against the wishes or knowledge of their mothers, as happened to Philomena Lee and her son Anthony.
'As a direct result of the abuse and trauma they experienced, many mother-and-baby-home survivors moved to England. In some cases they came here because they thought that disappearing from their home country was the only way to protect their family's reputations.
'And so for decades, thousands of survivors, including here in Britain, lived in secrecy and shame.'
Mr Conlon said the Irish government later apologised and the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme opened to applications last year.
He said: 'Ultimately, the scheme aims to acknowledge the suffering and improve the circumstances of former residents of mother-and-baby homes, which is why it's wrong that up to 13,000 survivors living here in Britain today risk losing their benefits if they accept this compensation.
'Under our current rules, any money accepted through this payment scheme would be considered savings and could see them lose means-tested benefits and financial support for social care.
'For some, it is deterring them from making any application at all, it's one of the reasons why only 5% of survivors in Britain have applied so far.
'And for others, having received the compensation offer, they are now having to weigh up whether it's worth accepting the money or if to do so would sink them into a worse financial situation overall.'
Mr Conlon said for many survivors the payment scheme had become an 'additional burden' but noted there was a 'relatively simple' solution.
He said: 'The introduction of an indefinite capital disregard, which my Bill is proposing, would remove any risk to an applicant's benefits and there is also strong precedent for this with the same arrangements having been applied to similar special compensation schemes in the recent past.
'They include those introduced for the victims of the 7/7 London bombings and payments made under the Windrush compensation scheme.'
Mr Conlon asked for his Bill to be considered at second reading on March 28.
Laura Harmon, a Labour member of the Irish parliament's upper house, said in a statement: 'I welcome this Bill and 'Philomena's Law' will deliver justice to thousands of mother-and-baby homes survivors living in Britain.'
She added: 'No amount of money can rectify the wrongs that were inflicted on survivors but access to this scheme should be uncomplicated for all survivors.'
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